» ASEAN-India FTA
On July 23rd, during his visit to Thailand for the East Asia Summit, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna made a strong pitch for the signing of the agreement in October, during the next ASEAN-India Summit, as a key element of a pan-regional strategy. Later the next day, the Union Cabinet approved the FTA in trade in goods between India and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), despite concerns raised by several Ministers over the pact. On July 25th, the Kerala State Cabinet protested, as the controversial FTA is expected to have highly adverse impacts on farmers. In a press release dated July 26th, the Kerala Independent Fishworkers Federation said that the FTA will lead to a huge loss of livelihoods in the fisheries and agriculture sector especially in Kerala (KSMTF Press Release on ASEAN India FTA). Read More...

» EU-India FTA
The 7th round of negotiations for a FTA between India and the European Union (EU) took place in Brussels from July 13th to 15th 2009. High on the agenda was the seizure of Indian pharmaceutical consignments during transit in EU, based on the EU line of “strong implementation” of Intellectual Property Rights regulations. Another concern is the EU’s push for compulsory fish catch certification in line with the very strict Illegal, Unlawful and Unregulated (IUU) regulation (to come into force on January 1st, 2010) for any fish import into the EU. In addition, India put forward the following: EU export subsides for diary products (reintroduced in January 2009), increased check of Indian food products by the EU, and the EU blue card scheme for “highly qualified employment”. Read More...

» EFTA-India FTA
India talks FTA with Switzerland
DNA | July 15th, 2009
Instead of stopping the West and multinational drug makers in their efforts to block India's low-cost generic drugs exports, the government is helping their cause by aggressively pursuing FTAs with developed economies, which could further hamper the world's access to such drugs.

» India-South Korea CEPA
India, South Korea to ink trade pact on 7 Aug
Live Mint | July 15th, 2009
Minister of commerce and industry Anand Sharma is scheduled to visit Seoul in early August to sign the agreement which includes trade in goods and services as well as investments. The Cabinet had approved the signing of a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with South Korea on 2 July. Read More...

» India-New Zealand FTA
Delay To Start Of Talks With India
Guide2 | July 9th, 2009
The start of free trade talks with India has been delayed following a change in India's commerce minister since elections in May. New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser expected negotiations would be able to start before the end of the year. Preliminary talks were to have been held this month.

» Discussion on “The implications of a Free Trade Agreement between India and Norway”
India is presently negotiating Free Trade Agreements with close to twenty countries, in secrecy, behind closed doors. Many of these negotiations, especially with the Global North, include far reaching liberalisation provisions, not only in trade in goods and services, but stretching themselves to include investment, government procurement, intellectual property rights. We invite you for a discussion on “The implications of a Free Trade Agreement between India and Norway”, with the participation of Aksel Naerstad, from the Norwegian Trade Campaign, on Thursday July 30th, 3pm, at the Intercultural Resources office. Read More...

» Workshop on "EU-India FTA: Opportunities for South Asia"
The Centre for WTO Studies is organizing a Workshop on "EU-India FTA: Opportunities for South Asia", on 29th July, 2009, from 9.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. at the Conference Hall of the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi. The Workshop will provide the details of India - EU FTA negotiations look at issues related to the dynamics between the India - EU FTA the South Asian process of integration. It will be addressed by senior officials from the Department of Commerce, the Commonwealth Secretariat, UNCTAD India, the University of Dhaka and Centre for WTO Studies.

Also see:
South Asian trade pact becoming redundant, warn experts
Breacking News 24/7 | July 8th, 2009
The preference shown by South Asian nations for bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) may lead to the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) eventually becoming redundant, trade analysts from the region have said.